First online order

[AllieBdot]

Hi! I'm expecting my first online coral order today and I'm feeling uneasy about acclimation. All other corals have come from either reputable LFS or from other local reefers but they never traveled more than 30 minutes and I physically saw where they were housed. I don't have a drip system but I slowly integrated my water and put them in a temporary tank before they went to display tank.

I researched acclimation for online orders and most interesting to me was a video on reefbuilder where he took his coral right from the shipping package and into a tank. His explaination was to just get them in a tank asap. This seems counterintuitive to "dip and drip".

Also, thoughts on freshwater dip? Is it safe for all types of coral or do certain types take better to it? For reference I'm expecting some zoas, bubble coral, cloves, monti, and cyphastrea.

 

[New&no clue]

I've ordered most of my corals online and I would agree it is important to get them in the tank as quick as possible. However, I still acclimate them. I either do a quick drip or put them all in bucket and add a cup (this depends on the amount of water they came in) of tank water every 10-15 for about an hour. I then do a dip in CoralRx for 15 and put them on my frag rack at the bottom of the tank. They sit there for about a week while I see if there is anything on them and then I place them on the rock work.

 

[ajhudson15]

you ALWAYS dip. unless you want to be chasing out flatworms, bugs, or other pests later on. once received and temp acclimated(floating the bag) the extra 10-15 minutes to dip is minimal to them already being out from shipping. I personally temp acclimate. put the water they came in into a container with bayer for about 10-15 minutes. I think get another container and use some more ofhe water they came in with about 20% of my tank water to rinse and then slowly acclimate from there

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I never drip acclimate corals. I temperature acclimate for 10 minutes, dip for 10 minutes, rinse, then they go right in the QT tank. I only buy SPS so I can't say that this method is safe for all corals, but of the 100+ SPS I've bought over my reefing career, I've never lost a single one from this method.

I similarly never drip or otherwise acclimate fish. I temperature acclimate for 10 minutes, match the salinity in my QT to the shipping water, then they go right in.

 

[PicassoClown04]

I don’t drip my corals at all, ever. My dad worked at an LFS for years and ran fish tanks for 30 years so I’ve learned most of my reefing from him. His logic is that the corals have to match salinity of the water through osmosis, meaning they have to spit out/ suck in water based on the salinity they’re in. So, by throwing them straight in the tank, they only have to do this adjustment once instead of constantly during a drip acclimation. Definitely drip acclimate fish and inverts (special care on the inverts, acclimate SUPER slow) but personally, I don’t do coral. I take the coral in the bag and visually examine for pests (aiptasia is hard to spot out of the water) then take the coral out and examine again. Most corals can withstand 10 minutes out of the water so this is okay to do. Float the bag while you mix up the dip, I do 5-20 mins depending on the temp of the bag when I got it (LFS purchases- probably 5, online- closer to 10-20). Quick dip and scrub (only the plug) with a toothbrush then straight into the QT/DT.

 

[JCTReefer]

Quick temp acclimate in bag, 5-10 minute dip, plop em into Qt or Display. Some online vendors void warranty if you drip acclimate. Never lost one yet by doing this.